There was no surprise when the New York Liberty selected Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft on Friday.
The Liberty had mulitple first-round selections Friday after a series of moves earlier in the week. They traded All-Star Tina Charles — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft — to the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics in exchange for the No. 12 pick in the draft; the Mystics' Shatori Walker-Kimbrough; and the Mystics' first-, second- and third-round picks for the 2021 draft.
MORE: Get to know Sabrina Ionescu, from Oregon career to Kobe friendship
New York then flipped the Mystics' 2021 first-round pick — plus their own 2021 second-round pick — to the Dallas Wings. In return, they received the Nos. 9 and 15 picks, plus the Wings' Tayler Hill, herself the No. 4 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Those lower picks — players who should serve to complement Ionescu — will go a long way in determining how history views the Liberty's draft.
In addition to Ionescu, the Liberty drafted Megan Walker (Connecticut), Jazmine Jones (Louisville), Kylee Shook (Louisville), Leaonna Odom (Duke) and Erica Ogwumike (Rice). They then traded Walker-Kimbrough to the Phoenix Mercury for the draft rights to Jocelyn Willoughby, and traded Ogwumike's draft rights to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Stephanie Talbot.
Ionescu wasn't the only Duck to go in the first round. Teammate Satou Sabally went right behind her at No. 2 overall to the Wings, and Ruthy Hebard went eighth overall to the Chicago Sky.
Here are the complete results from the 2020 WNBA Draft:
WNBA Draft results 2020
Round 1 picks
| Pick No. | Team | Player | Pos. | School |
| 1 | New York Liberty | Sabrina Ionescu | G | Oregon |
| 2 | Dallas Wings | Satou Sabally | F | Oregon |
| 3 | Indiana Fever | Lauren Cox | F | Baylor |
| 4 | Atlanta Dream | Chennedy Carter | G | Texas A&M |
| 5 | Dallas Wings (from Mercury) | Bella Alarie | G | Princeton |
| 6 | Minnesota Lynx | Mikiah Herbert Harrigan | F | South Carolina |
| 7 | Dallas Wings (from Storm via Sun, Mercury) | Tyasha Harris | G | South Carolina |
| 8 | Chicago Sky | Ruthy Hebard | F | Oregon |
| 9 | New York Liberty (from Wings via Aces) | Megan Walker | F | UConn |
| 10 | Phoenix Mercury (from Sparks via Sun)* | Jocelyn Willoughby | F | Virginia |
| 11 | Seattle Storm (from Sun) | Kitija Laksha | G | South Florida |
| 12 | New York Liberty (from Mystics) | Jazmine Jones | G | Louisville |
Round 2 picks
| Pick No. | Team | Player | Pos. | School |
| 13 | New York Liberty (from Dream) | Kylee Shook | F | Louisville |
| 14 | Indiana Fever (from Liberty via Lynx) | Kathleen Doyle | G | Iowa |
| 15 | New York Liberty (from Wings) | Leaonna Odom | F | Duke |
| 16 | Minnesota Lynx (from Fever) | Crystal Dangerfield | G | UConn |
| 17 | Atlanta Dream (from Mercury) | Brittany Brewer | C | Texas Tech |
| 18 | Phoenix Mercury (from Lynx) | Te'a Cooper | G | Baylor |
| 19 | Seattle Storm | Joyner Holmes | F | Texas |
| 20 | Los Angeles Sparks (from Sky) | Beatrice Mompremier | F | Miami |
| 21 | Dallas Wings (from Aces) | Luisa Geiselsoder | C | Germany |
| 22 | Los Angeles Sparks | Leonie Fiebich | F | Germany |
| 23 | Connecticut Sun | Kaila Charles | G | Maryland |
| 24 | Washington Mystics | Jalyn Agnew | F | Creighton |
Round 3 picks
| Pick No. | Team | Player | Pos. | School |
| 25 | Atlanta Dream | Mikayla Pivec | G | Oregon State |
| 26 | New York Liberty** | Erica Ogwumike | G | Rice |
| 27 | Atlanta Dream (from Wings) | Kobi Thornton | F | Clemson |
| 28 | Indiana Fever | Kamiah Smalls | G | James Madison |
| 29 | Phoenix Mercury | Stella Johnson | G | Rider |
| 30 | Chicago Sky (from Lynx) | Japreece Dean | G | UCLA |
| 31 | Seattle Storm | Haley Gorecki | G | Duke |
| 32 | Chicago Sky | Kiah Gillespie | F | Florida State |
| 33 | Las Vegas Aces | Lauren Manis | F | Holy Cross |
| 34 | Los Angeles Sparks | Tynice Martin | G | West Virginia |
| 35 | Connecticut Sun | Juicy Landrum | G | Baylor |
| 36 | Washington Mystics | Sug Sutton | G | Texas Tech |
* Traded to Liberty after pick.
** Traded to Lynx after pick.
WNBA Draft live updates
9 p.m. — TRADE ALERT: a couple of draft picks have been traded. Jocelyn Willoughby, the 10th overall pick, was traded to the Liberty, with Shatori Walker-Kimbrough going to the Mercury. Erica Ogwumike, the 26th pick, was traded to the Lynx, with Stephanie Talbot going to the Liberty.
8:50 p.m. — At the end of the draft, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league has introduced the Kobe and GiGi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award, to recognize "an individual or group who has made significant contributions to the visibility, perception and advancement of women's and girls basketball at all levels."
8:45 p.m. — Phew, that was a lot. The third round flew by. Mikayla Pivec (Dream), Erica Ogwumike (Liberty), Kobi Thornton (Dream), Kamiah Smalls (Fever), Stella Johnson (Mercury), Japreece Dean (Sky), Haley Gorecki (Storm), Kiah Gillespie (Sky), Lauren Manis (Aces), Tynice Martin (Sparks), Juicy Landrum (Sun) and Sug Sutton (Mystics) round out the draft.
8:35 p.m. — Luisa Geiselsoder (Wings), Leonie Fiebich (Sparks), Kaila Charles (Sun) and Jaylyn Agnew (Mystics) round out the second round.
8:30 p.m. — Four picks happen off air in rapid succession: Courtney Brewer (C, Texas Tech) goes to the Dream, Te'a Cooper (G, Baylor) goes to the Mercury, Joyner Holmes (F, Texas) goes to the Storm and Beatrice Mompremier (F, Miami) goes to the Sparks.
8:25 p.m. — The Lynx pick up some depth at point guard with Crystal Dangerfield. She may be undersized at 5-5, but she's a creative player with the ability to facilitate for others and find space to get her own shot.
8:22 p.m. — The Liberty use their fifth pick of the night to select Leaonna Odom out of Duke.
8:21 p.m. — The Fever draft Kathleen Doyle, a solid shooter out of Iowa, with the 14th pick.
8:17 p.m. — Kylee Shook is the first pick in the second round. The Louisville forward will join the Liberty with the 13th overall pick.
8:11 p.m. — The Liberty round out the first round with their third pick of the draft, taking Jazmine Jones out of Louisville.
8:10 p.m. — The Storm take Kitija Laksha from South Florida with the 11th pick. Her future teammate, Sue Byrd, seemed to really like the pick.
8:04 p.m. — Virginia's Jocelyn Willoughby is the first ACC player to be selected, going 10th overall to the Mercury. She gets to join a veteran core of Diana Taurasi, Skyler Diggins-Smith and Brittney Griner.
7:59 p.m. — Finally, a UConn player is taken; Megan Walker goes ninth overall to the Liberty. Ionescu gets the strongest spot-up shooter in the draft to join her. And she gets a shoutout from Kevin Durant!
Megan Walker's reaction to getting drafted pic.twitter.com/iOfY1Cvb2l
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) April 18, 2020
7:55 p.m. — A third Oregon player is off the board: Ruthy Hebard goes to a strong Sky team with the eighth overall pick. Annnnnnd her WiFi cut out. In her defense, she is in Alaska.
7:47 p.m. — The Wings use their third first round pick on Tyasha Harris at No. 7. The South Carolina point guard could pair well with Sabally and Alarie.
7:44 p.m. — The Lynx select Mikiah Herbert Harrigan with the sixth overall pick. Most experts didn't have her going this high, but the Lynx have had a knack of turning surprising selections into stars.
7:40 p.m. — The Wings use their second pick at No. 5 to grab Princeton guard Bella Alarie, the daughter of former Duke star Mark Alarie.
this little girl’s dreams are finally coming true! #DRAFTDAY pic.twitter.com/35XYdYN426
— Bella Alarie (@bella_alarie) April 17, 2020
7:33 p.m. — The Dream take Texas A&M guard Chennedy Carter, a dynamic scoring option to pair with Courtney Williams.
As a freshman in 2018, Chennedy Carter scored nine straight points to cap a 17-point Texas A&M comeback against DePaul, and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) April 17, 2020
This sequence says all you need to know about the incredible talent the Atlanta Dream just drafted at No. 4 pic.twitter.com/NC1aSesoGC
7:29 p.m. — The Fever take Lauren Cox out of Baylor. She's a versatile forward with the ability to play inside and out as a stretch four.
7:24 p.m. — The Wings select Satou Sabally with the second pick. Sabally joins her teammate as the first two picks are from Oregon.
Our 🦄 is heading to Dallas!
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) April 17, 2020
Satou Sabally is the newest member of the Dallas Wings as the No. 2 overall pick in the #WNBADraft! #GoDucks @BallySatou x @DallasWings pic.twitter.com/MD3RA7D8ZT
7:16 p.m. — No surprise: the Liberty take Sabrina Ionescu No. 1 overall.
WELCOME TO NEW YORK, @sabrina_i20! Congratulations on being selected #1 overall in the 2020 #WNBADraft. #BrooklynLoud🗽 pic.twitter.com/JL2CF20uru
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) April 17, 2020
7:08 p.m. — Commissioner Cathy Engelbert pays tribute to former NBA commissioner David Stern and Kobe Bryant, as well as Gianna Bryant and her AAU teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester. The three girls were announced as honorary draft selections.
The WNBA honors Alyssa Altobelli, Gianna Bryant and Payton Chester and makes them honorary draft picks at WNBA draft pic.twitter.com/wqsntNNzDe
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 17, 2020
Gigi Bryant, Peyton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli are officially members of the 2020 WNBA Draft Class ♾ pic.twitter.com/QAioSPaGPw
— WSLAM (@wslam) April 17, 2020